


don't make it weird

by the_most_beautiful_broom



Series: 12 Days of Ficmas 2018 [5]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/M, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, Roommates, marper wedding and raven doesn't know how to deal with feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-11 22:05:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16861117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_most_beautiful_broom/pseuds/the_most_beautiful_broom
Summary: for the prompt: "NYE kiss for zaven"





	don't make it weird

 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:43pm  
_Hey

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:46pm  
_Hey 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:46pm  
_When do you get back? 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:46pm  
_Tomorrow 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:47pm  
_Yeah I know but what time 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:49pm_  
Uhhh hold on let me check  
Okay my plane lands at 11:15am 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:50pm  
_Oh cool 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:50pm_  
Wait why  
Please tell me you didn’t lock yourself out 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:50pm_  
that doesn’t happen twice  
...but i do have a favor to ask 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:51pm_  
The ellipses made that 10x more ominous than it needed to be  
But sure  
I mean  
Are we talking a ‘can someone crash on the couch tonight’ favor or a ‘there’s a centipede under a bowl in the living room and i need you to kill it when you get back from michigan’ favor 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:52pm  
_That’s very specific 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:52pm  
_You hate centipedes 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:52pm  
_NOTHING SHOULD HAVE THAT MANY LEGS OKAY 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:52pm  
_Did you need something, Reyes? 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:53pm_  
Right.  
So you remember my friend, Monty? 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:53pm  
_The guy with the switchblade? 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:54pm_  
No  
That’s Murphy  
Well, technically it’s Emori’s knife  
ANYWAYS no Monty’s the one out in San Diego, who keeps sending us cactuses 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:54pm_  
Ah  
That you keep killing  
Okay yeah what about him 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:58pm  
_He and his girlfriend just got engaged 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:58pm  
_Congrats 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:58pm  
_They’re eloping 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:58pm  
_Economical; nice 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:59pm  
_On New Years Eve 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:59pm  
_Festive? 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 1:59pm_  
Ha.  
They want everyone from my grad program to be there  
I fly out tomorrow afternoon... 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:03pm_  
So you can’t pick me up from the airport  
No worries; I’ll grab an uber 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:03pm  
_Or 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:03pm  
_Or? 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:05pm_  
Or you could be the best roommate ever and do me the hugest favor and come with me  
I will wash the dishes for the next three months  
And not squick out over centipedes  
And I’ll take care of the hotel and the flight and everything  
You can even have the window seat

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:09pm  
_...you want me to go with you to your friend’s wedding? 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:09pm  
_Okay don’t make it weird 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:09pm  
_I’m not, i’m just checking 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:10pm_  
It’s just that of the people in our grad program, everyone is in pairs.  
All six of them have a S/O  
I will literally make a baker’s dozen, Zeke  
Four months of dishes? 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:10pm  
_Alright slow down 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:10pm  
_You have no idea how desperate i am 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:11pm  
_Gee thanks 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:11pm_  
Not what i meant  
Please

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:14pm  
_You’ll get the flight? 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:14pm  
_And the hotel and every single uber 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:14pm  
_I don’t have a tux 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:14pm_  
That’s okay; they want it to be chill  
Nice pants, a button-down shirt and a blazer should be fine  
You don’t even need a tie 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:15pm  
_I have a tie 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:15pm  
_I’m sure you do, but you don’t need one 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:15pm_  
Okay.  
What time is the flight? 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:22pm  
_There’s one an hour after you land; we can meet in the terminal 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:23pm  
_Works for me 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:23pm  
_Of course it does; you’re getting a free trip to San Diego 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:23pm  
_Alright who’s doing who a favor here 

 **Raven  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:23pm_  
Haha  
Okay I’ll see you tomorrow  
Thanks 

 **Zeke  
** _Sat, Dec 29, 2:23pm  
_Don’t worry about it.

 

— — — —

 

Except she did worry about it. Then she went on a run to forget about it, but that didn’t work, so then she was sweaty and worried, then she came back to the apartment and was sweaty and tired and worried.

It wasn’t a big deal.

She and Zeke had been friends since 3rd grade, when they’d fought over the topics for a class paper—not a figurative fight, mind you; Raven had literally tripped Zeke on his way up to the board so she could write ‘Red Baron’ first—and they’d stayed in touch over the years. Then they’d both landed a spot in a space program in Houston; when Raven’s roommate dropped out of the program and Zeke was kicked out of his apartment (some tenants had complained about how loud his bike was), it’d only made sense for them to move in together.  

Raven took a quick shower, then threw her carryon on her bed. There was hardly protocol for what to pack for a New Year’s Eve elopement, or maybe there was, and she wasn’t privy to it. Raven wrinkled her nose and tossed a black dress, a black jumpsuit, and a black leather skirt in the suitcase—you know, for variety. If she were a betting woman, she’d put money on the odds of Gina dragging her out shopping as soon as the plane landed.

But then again, maybe they wouldn’t.

Because she’d have a plus one.

Raven sat down on the edge of her bed, playing with the fringe on the edge of her bathrobe.

She’d have Zeke as her plus one.

She shook her head, got up, puttered around the room, packing all the stuff she was pretty sure she wouldn’t need. She sat on the suitcase to make it fit, scheduled a car to pick her up in the afternoon, and tried not to think too hard about the fact that she couldn’t wipe a smile off her face.

 

— — —

 **Zeke  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 11:31am  
_So we’re kinda delayed. 

 **Raven  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 11:32am_  
Yeah that’s what the sign in the terminal says.  
Any idea why? 

 **Zeke  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 11:32am_  
Nope.  
They said someone else came in before us so we’re just doing an extra pass  
They’re also saying we shouldn’t miss any connections 

 **Raven  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 11:32am  
_Well that’s something 

 **Zeke  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 11:33am_  
It is that  
But you can go through with boarding and stuff 

 **Raven  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 11:34am  
_Okay 

 **Zeke  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 11:38am  
_Okay they’re telling us to get off the wifi; that’s a good sign right? 

 **Raven  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 11:38am_  
I think?  
We’re in line to board now… 

 **Zeke  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 11:39am  
_Save me a seat? 

 **Raven  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 11:40am  
_Your seat is saved; that’s the beauty of pre-booking 

 **Zeke  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 11:40am  
_Ha 

 **Raven  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 11:41am  
_Aren’t you supposed to have your phone off? 

 **Zeke  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 11:41am  
_What’s your point

 

— — —

 

He’d only been out of the apartment for a week, but it’d been the first time Raven had had the place to herself in a couple months. It was odd, because it seemed...empty. It wasn’t that she missed Zeke, okay, she just missed the things he did. Like cooking extra for dinner, so she’d have a lunch to pack the next day, and pretend it was an accident. Or playing his Tom Cruise playlist—yes, it was as dumb as it sounded—while he worked on some equations, or how he took the longest showers but the apartment always smelled like eucalyptus and steam when he was done.

And his smile, his stupid smirk when he was proud of himself for something but didn’t think anybody else would notice; she missed that too, but she didn’t feel like thinking too much about that.

And the rush of relief when she saw him pushing his way through the crowded airplane aisle?

Clearly only relief that he’d made the flight, and she hadn’t just blown $800 on a ticket.

What else would it be?

Zeke smiled when his eyes found hers, lifting his chin in an exaggerated bro nod that had Raven rolling her eyes.

“Hey,” he said as he got closer, then nearly got a concussion as a woman tried to underarm hurl her Vera Bradley duffel into the overhead compartment.

“Hey,” Raven said, as he wrestled the bag into the bin for the woman, then ducked into their aisle. “Did you want the window seat?”

“Did you?”

“Not what I asked.”

But Zeke shrugged and shoved his backpack under the seat in front of him, so Raven guessed he was okay with aisle.

 

— — —

 

 **Maya  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 3:05pm  
_Okay so Wells and I have circled the airport queue three times since we dropped you off;  is she there yet? 

 **Jasper  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 3:05pm_  
Not yet  
But the baggage claim did just start spitting out bags 

 **Maya  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 3:06pm  
_Okay we’re going around again 

 **Jasper  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 3:07pm_  
K  
Wait I think I see her  
Oh no I thought it was her but it’s someone else  
WAIT NO IT’S RAVEN 

 **Maya  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 3:07pm  
_How did you mistake someone for raven 

 **Jasper  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 3:05pm_  
SHE’S WITH A GUY  
DID YOU KNOW SHE’S BRINGING SOMEONE??  
WHO IS THIS GUY??  
Okay gotta go; gotta be cool 

 **Maya  
** _Sun, Dec 30, 3:05pm  
_Wells says ‘yeah good luck with that’

 

— — —

 

Jasper didn’t say hello, or ask about their flight, or even make a pretense of helping with their bags; just walked up to Zeke, introduced himself, and asked how long they’d been dating. Raven thought her jaw might bruise from when it hit the floor, but Zeke took it like a champ, just holding out a hand and explaining that, nah, they were just friends. Jasper looked like he believed that exactly 0%, but he remembered some semblance of social norms and just shook Zeke’s hand.

Maya looked positively ecstatic from the passenger seat of Wells’ car when they pulled up to the curb, and Wells was not at all subtle with the appraising glances he kept casting in the rearview mirror as they drove away, but at least they grumbled their acknowledgement that Raven had brought Zeke _as a friend_. He’d never been to the west coast, and she’d wanted to show it off. That was all.  

They pulled up to Monty and Harper’s house—apparently she was at that stage in life where her friends owned houses—and she recognized all the faces in the window. Which meant someone had absolutely texted a group that she wasn’t a part of saying that she’d brought someone back.

“Don’t make it weird,” she muttered to Bellamy at the door, and he held up his hands like he’d never even consider it. Harper made a sound like maybe she was choking or maybe she was just that excited, and Murphy looked way too smug. Monty took some sympathy on her, and made a show out of bringing an air mattress into the room they’d set up for her.  

The afternoon passed easily enough.

Everyone was exactly as they’d been in school, just older. They all laughed a little easier, talked a little quieter, moved with a surety that came from acceptance. Someone ordered breakfast burritos, even though it was well past 9am, and they ate them on paper towels, perched around the living room.

Zeke seemed to get along with her friends.

Like, dangerously well, which was a feat.

But he talked aerodynamics with Monty, Rome with Bellamy, ranges with Brian, and she didn’t know what he and Emori were talking about, since they immediately shut up and switched to an inane conversation about the coastal climate, but Raven was too pleased to be bothered.

She didn’t know who suggested it, but before Raven knew it, she was being pushed into her room with orders to come out when she was ready to paint the town. Apparently eloping didn’t mean forgoing the bachelor/bachelorette festivities, just altering them: Monty and Harper didn’t want to split up and they didn’t want to be hungover, but they wanted a night out, just for old times’ sake.

So Raven let herself her talked into some glossy lipstick and a red dress that Luna pulled out of nowhere—and insisted was a spare, even though it was suspiciously Raven’s size and something Luna wouldn’t let herself be caught dead in. And they all piled into a couple of cars and headed downtown; Raven boosted the bluetooth from both cars so they could sync to the playlist, which she was pretty sure meant that every car in a 30 yard radius was hijacked by their y2k throwback music, but she couldn’t be bothered.

At the first stop, Harper got a tiara and a sash and everyone said they didn’t want to dance, but soon enough they were all on the floor.

At the second stop, Jasper was indignant at how much they were asking for a fish taco, but everyone ate at least three.

At the third, they were dancing again, and the day of travel was catching up with Raven.

That’s what it had to be, because something had to explain the way her heart felt lighter on the west coast. And it had nothing to do with the fact that Zeke fit in seamlessly with her friends, but hadn’t left her side the whole night.

She was tired, that had to be it, so she indulged herself a bit.

Maybe she swayed a little extra to the music, and maybe she leaned a little close to hear Zeke over the loud baseline. Maybe her hand stayed a beat extra on his chest when someone behind her pushed her into him, maybe she pretended not to notice it was Emori. Maybe she let herself, for once, admit how bright his eyes were, how they felt on her when he smiled, how she wondered if he’d let her count the colors in them.

Harper spilled a drink on her white dress; Maya looked dismayed and grabbed Luna, who grabbed Clarke, who grabbed Raven, and then all of them were piling into a tiny bathroom, trying to get gin out of a white sundress.

“So what’s the actual deal with Zeke?” Clarke asked, flicking her fingers under the tap, trying to decide if the water was too hot or too cold.

“No deal,” Raven said quickly, trying to figure out if the Tide-to-go pen in her purse had any juice left in it.  

Harper raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms and managing to look indignant, even with two girls rubbing at the hem of her dress. “Seriously, Ray?”

“Seriously,” Raven parrotted, wiping the pen on a paper towel, testing it out. “We went to school together, ended up in the same program at NASA, and needed roommates.”

“Roomates or apartment mates?” Luna teased, and Maya snorted.

“We’re good friends,” Raven insisted, handing the pen over. “That’s it.”

Harper looked like she wants to protest, but she glanced at Clarke, and dropped it. The bathroom was quiet for a beat, then someone picked up that they were playing Shania Twain outside, and they gave up on the dress in favor of a lip sync performance of _That Don’t Impress Me Much_.

They burst out of the bathroom yelling lyrics none of them knew they had memorized, and then it was on to the next stop.

It was San Diego, after all, and the beach was inevitable.

Harper dared Luna and then everyone was running to the water, makeup running and clothes clinging as they dunked themselves in the cold water and came up sputtering. Everything was salt water and sand and moonlight, and Raven didn’t realize she was shivering in the night air until Zeke was beside her on the beach, an arm thrown easily around her shoulders, pulling her into the warmth of his side.

She snuck a glance up at him, not even knowing what she was checking for, before she let herself be pulled. He was smiling easily, talking to someone else about something else, like this was natural, easy.

It certainly felt like it was.

Wells had towels in the back of his car, and though Raven was pretty sure there was always sand in everyone’s car, they dutifully climbed onto the scratchy fibers. Halfway home, she realized Zeke’s arm was around still her.

 

— — —

 **Harper  
** _Monday, Dec 31, 12:14am  
_You two are cute 

 **Raven  
** _Monday, Dec 31, 12:14am  
_Are you seriously texting me from the front seat 

 **Harper  
** _Monday, Dec 31, 12:15am  
_Well I don’t want to turn around and make it obvious   

 **Raven  
** _Monday, Dec 31, 12:15am_  
Well thanks  
For not turning around I mean  
There’s not an ‘us two’ to be cute 

 **Harper  
** _Monday, Dec 31, 12:18am  
_Okay hon

 

— — —

 

The wedding was simple.

And it was so sweet, beautiful in the depth of emotion on Harper and Monty’s faces. Raven wouldn’t call any of her friends criers, but eyes were suspiciously damp as Harper and Monty exchanged vows they’d written themselves. There were inside jokes, of course, things that made Harper shake her head in embarrassment and Monty’s eyes mist over with memories, but they all knew the heart behind the words.

Then it was done, it was official, and Raven’s cheeks hurt from smiling.

They’d hired a photographer, a team to follow them all around and take pictures on the boardwalk. As sunset fell, Harper and Monty went down to the waves to get a couple shots in the perfect light, while the rest of them tried to get a fire to start in an old washer.

Murphy finally pulled it off, and Gina produced hangers and hot dogs and marshmallows and it had to be the oddest combination of vibes for a wedding, but somehow it was perfect.

Night fell, and Raven admired her friends’ faces in the flickering light of the fire. All strong, all soft, all dear to her. A similar sense of whimsy seemed to fall over all of them, and conversation lulled. Instead, hands were held and soft smiles exchanged; this was a special family that Raven got to call hers.

No one wanted to stay up to midnight.

The emotions of the day were catching up to them, and around 10, they all agreed they were too old for this. Back into the cars, back to Monty and Harper’s house—sans Monty and Harper, of course, who had rented a place near the beach for the next couple of nights.

Raven mumbled goodnight to everyone, wondering if the stairs up to her room had been this long the say before. But she made it; she brushed her teeth in a haze and climbed into bed.

And promptly couldn’t fall asleep.

Zeke kept tossing on the air mattress, and every adjustment meant the rubber grating against the wood floor.

Every.

Adjustment.

Raven squinted at the ceiling, trying to think through her options.

“Hey, Zeke?” she asked quietly, after ten minutes.

He stilled.

Then he cleared his throat, and she could practically picture his expression. “Uh, yeah?”

“I’m trying to find a polite way of saying ‘can you not’, but I’m coming up blank.”

She could practically hear his grimace. “Sorry. I slept funny last night; my shoulder feels off.”

“Want to switch?”

She didn’t really want to sleep on an air mattress, but she really really didn’t want to be awake right now.

“You’re not sleeping on an air mattress, Reyes.”

“I’m not sleeping at all, Zeke.”

He was quiet for a moment, then she heard him sigh. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Raven held her breath, bit her lip, and didn’t give herself a chance to think before asking, “Want to share?”

Again, the nervous sound of Zeke clearing his throat. “Uh, I don’t know—”

“Don’t make it weird,” she said primly, rolling over.

And it wasn’t weird.

Nothing weird about just making sure she could sleep, and that her roommate didn’t screw up his shoulder. Even if it meant sharing a bed with said roommate. Even if said roommate was Zeke.

The room was still again.

Then there was a creaking again, and then a soft footstep; the bed dipped as Zeke climbed in. He sighed, which Raven was pretty sure was unintentional, something like relief.

“Thanks, Ray.”

He said it quietly, but Raven’s pulse jumped. All her friends called her that, but it wasn’t a nickname she’d ever heard from Zeke’s lips before. And it did funny things to her heart.

“No problem,” she said, hoping her voice sounded normal.

It must’ve, because the next sound she heard was even breathing.

Raven rolled, almost in disbelief, surprised he’d fallen asleep so quickly. The air mattress must’ve been awful, or he must’ve been exhausted, because sure enough, he was out.

The room was dark, but Raven’s eyes had been adjusting for a while, and she couldn’t miss the shadow Zeke’s long lashes cast over his cheeks. The slope of his upper lip, the dip just below his nose, the cut of his jaw, all features she could recognize anywhere, but somehow looked different in just moonlight. On a pillow, next to her, in California, like a dream.

Raven’s eyes felt heavy, and she nestled into her pillow, wishing she could keep them open just a little longer. This wasn’t a view she wanted to forget.

She woke with a start, not even forty minutes later.

Fireworks, Raven realized, over legoland, loud and nearby. She groaned softly, squinting her eyes shut, and there was a soft laugh from beside her.

“Happy New Year.”

“Happy New Year,” she said automatically, her voice thick with sleep, her eyes opening as she turned her head to find Zeke.

He was watching her, a strange expression on his face, illuminated by the flashes of color through the window.

And she meant to roll back over, turn away from him and wait for the fireworks to stop, but once her eyes found his, she couldn’t. Because he was looking at her with such sweet earnestness, content like she’d never seen him, and she wasn’t sure who moved, but the next thing she knew, Zeke’s hand was in her hair and his lips brushing over hers.

It lasted all of three seconds, just a quick moment of something tender, and then Zeke pulled back. On his face there was a carefulness, and Raven felt his hand slip from her hair to the side of her face, gentle on her jaw.

He’d kissed her.

In California, in her friends’ house at the start of the new year.

And Raven looked between his eyes, knowing she had so much to say and that that kiss meant that he did too, but the fireworks outside the window burst blue and there was a light in his eyes even brighter, and Raven didn’t worry about saying any of it just yet.  


End file.
